Naruto 1. Back from the Dead

**What its like to be on both sides**

**By: **

**Uzumaki-taichou**

Disclaimer: I don't any of the things that might be from Naruto, Bleach, or

Samurai7 or … I wish I owned them though 'cuz that'll be sick.

**Chapter 1**

**Back from the Dead**

It was a very gloomy day in Konoha. For a whole month now, rain kept a steady downpour on the village and today seemed to rain the hardest. The weather seemed to tell a lot of what today was and rain was seemed the most appropriate weather. Today was the day the Yondaime Hokage died; the same day his son was murdered at the age of six. It's been 6 years since then. Six years since the whole village went on rampage and shed the blood of the last Kazama— Uzumaki Arashi's son. It was chaotic. Konoha became a place far from what it was today.

As the rain kept falling, a hooded figure slowly approached the gates. He wore an all black cloak with silver linings at the seams and on his back was a sword that was dark as coal. The sword itself was broad and was easily the same height as himself. The sword was held in place with a very unique strap that seemed to have a few extra slots to hold more things.

As he closed onto the village gates, he noticed that his vision blurred for a second. 'Genjutsu,' he thought. He focused his senses on trying to detect chakra suppression anywhere near him and found one on a nearby tree branch. He quickly blurred out of vision and reappeared holding down a woman with black hair and red eyes.

"Yuhhi Kurenai…Genjutsu Specialist…I need to speak to your Hokage…you smell nice by the way…strawberries with a hint of mint."

Kurenai blushed from the compliment but tried to break free from the hold but to no avail. She dispelled the genjutsu knowing full well keeping it active would be a waste of chakra since she was caught. The hooded figure felt someone approach him from behind and was prepared to disable the person but decided to humor the aggressor.

"Sarutobi Asuma…1 of the 12 Protectors of Fire Country…son of the Sandaime Hokage," he spoke as a knife of some sort was being pressed to his neck. The figure smirked from under his hood and threw Kurenai towards the falling rain and at the same time grabbing the hand with the knife and flinging him forward to a nearby rock. He quickly caught the now falling Kurenai and placing her down on a tree branch. The man felt someone approaching at a rapid pace to his left and quickly leaped back to avoid a roundhouse kick to his head. He saw bowl-cut hair and green spandex suit and immediately identified him.

"Maito Gai…Taijutsu Specialist…Can I ask a question? Is this really how you treat guests of your village or am I just special?"

"Only people with high amounts of chakra oozing out of their body and carry a little too much spring time of you!"

He narrowly avoided a leg sweep by leaping away again but found himself with a katana menacingly being held just below his jaw. He looked towards his left and remembered hearing about this person in his spy network.

"Gecko Hayate…Kenjutsu specialist and former ANBU… nice sword you have there but a bit too small for my taste."

With that being said, the man exploded into a cloud of smoke, a barrage of 8 blades hurling straight at them out of the smoke. They quickly leaped away from the swords path, afraid of getting impaled by them all to a tree, all the while thinking 'when and how the hell did he do that?'

The hooded figure watched amusedly from his hiding spot as the group regrouped and began formulating plans as to how to subdue him when he noticed someone watching in the distance. He tried to get a better look at the person but he disappeared a second later. Not putting anymore thought to this he returned to watch the group scan the area for him. Through his amusement of watching them scurrying around like mice, he failed to notice someone sneaking up on him and placing a kunai at his neck.

"Ah…the great Sharingan Hatake Kakashi…Copy Ninja is what others call you I believe. As much as I like you people placing dangerous things on my neck I really must cut this short. So…" Out of nowhere a gust of wind blew back the Copy Ninja towards the dark clouds, surprise apparent on his face or what was at least visible. The man immediately followed through by drawing his now different looking sword, eight holes in the middle that looked like slots, and went after Kakashi. The blades that soared through the forest shot out to the sky and to moved towards a now growing chakra emitting from the man's body.

Asuma, Kurenai, Hayate, and Gai stood rooted to their spots, becoming soaked from the rain and a mix of shock and fear apparent on their faces from the chakra they were sensing right now. Kakashi, on the other hand, was scared. Scared wasn't even the word right word to describe what he was feeling. He only felt this type of chakra once in his life— the day his sensei died. He watched as the figure soared through the sky towards him with 8 blades spinning around him in a clock-wise manner and also noticed that the blades seemed to be controlled via chakra strings.

As the hooded figure was about to swipe at Kakashi, a wall of mud rose from the ground and blocked the 9 swords that were about to cut him up. Looking below. He saw and old man wearing kage robes anda hat bearing the kanji of fire on the front. The man smiled under his hood. It had been a very long time since he saw the old man and forgot exactly what he looked like this past six years.

"Sandaime Hokage…also known as The Professor due to his affinity to all the elements. I was wondering if you were the one I saw earlier."

The hokage looked at the man and spoke, "I have 3 questions for you: who are you, why are you here, and how do you have this type of power? The one who held this power died six years ago."

"Man, your fun at all…I'm here because I have information concerning one of your students, more specifically the medic of the bunch. That's all I can say in our current environment. As to who I am and other unimportant information, I'll tell you if you can beat me."

The Sandaime looked at the man in front of him, discern who he is as well as analyzing his skills. So far he has only seen a little bit of everything but not much to go by. 'Best not to let my guard down,' he thought. The two shinobis stood there unmoving, watching and waiting on who will initiate first. They stood there for what felt like hours till the old man felt that he should just start things off and see what happens. The Hokage began a sequence of complicated seals in rapid succession before announcing, "Doton: Doryuudan (Mud Dragon Cannon)." A dragon made of mud rose from the ground and shot a stream of mud towards the man. The figure mirked and began his complicated set of seals and yelled," Hyouton: Hyouryuudan (Ice Dragon Cannon)." A stream of ice shot out of the ice dragon's mouth and crashed with the oncoming mud blast, freezing the mud blast on contact as well as the mud wall that protected Kakashi.

As soon as both jutsus ended, a foot landed on the back of the figure's head, sending him flying through the ice formation formed as a result of the jutsus, collapsing the structure and shattering it to a million pieces. What little sunlight they had, a rainbow like effect began to shimmer from the millions of ice pieces forming a somewhat skewed rainbow. The Hokage saw the swords that fell from the wall onto the ground and immediately sealed of the area surrounding them, a seal appearing on one of his arms. He was about to head over to where the man flew when indescribable pain shot through his stomach. He looked down and saw a fist pushing against his body, chakra surrounding the fist before suddenly exploding, sending him flying. Sandaime quickly recovered from the blow, a little shocked at what had transpired. He was amazed that this man could perform a technique that required perfect chakra control like Tsunade who is the only person able to do it out of the Three Legendary Sannin. He looked at the man standing a few feet away from where he was, a grin visible from under his hood.

"How did you—"

"I do that?" the man replied. "Simple really. The concept of releasing chakra at the point of contact is pretty easy to understand but to actually do it is another thing. Took me about a month to perfect it. Such a hassle to learn but definitely has benefits at the end. So how about we end this because I'm kind of tired from my trip."

The Hokage watched intently as the man before him raised his hands to the air. He watched as chakra began to crackle from around his hand. He felt a tingling sensation coming from his arm and noticed that the seal on it was beginning to fade. He turned to where the swords rested and was shocked to see the inside of the area being covered with red, crackling chakra emitting from the swords sealed inside. Suddenly, a sharp pain rose from his arm and fell on both knees from the pain. The hokage looked at the man standing a few feet away from him, rain drops no even making contact with his skin as the chakra in the air turn the raindrops falling towards him to gas. He can literally see chakra oozing off his body while the he held the base sword on his right hand and the rest spinning around him.

The Sandaime Hokage could only watch in amazement and fear as the hooded man grabbed one of the swords spinning around him and attached it to the base sword as the two swords became one. A spike of chakra seemed to flow through out the surroundings as one by one the blades were attached to the base blade and each time a burstof chakra leaked out from the sword. 'This man could easily be kage level or maybe even more from what I can see,' thought the old man. Sandaime now realized he was outclassed from the start and the person in front of him was only toying with him. When the last one was attached, the chakra surrounding the man began to dissipate until only faint traces could be found.

Sarutobi continued to watch as the man began to stretch and place the sword into its holster. Confusion was plastered on the old man's face as to what the hell just happened.

'Was all that for show?' he thought.

The man saw the expression on the Hokage's face and decided to finally indulge the man on his earlier inquiry. He approached the old man and stood in front of him and spoke softly," Oji-san, look up at me." The old man looked up to see the hooded figure raise his hands towards his hood and pulled it off. Long, bright, sun-kissed blonde hair with streaks of red spilled out from under the cloak. The blonde mane seemed to float on air was wind swept through the surroundings, blowing rain along with it. Its length easily reached his waist and was tied with a blank, black hitai-ite on the end. The old man's eyes widened to the size of saucers when he looked directly at his face. It was like seeing a ghost. This man looked almost like the deceased 4th Hokage; from the blonde hair to the face-splitting grin he always wore. The only difference would be the red streaks on the hair, the voice and the eyes. He had the most unique eye color he has ever seen; a mixture of the deepest red and the deepest blue except not blending together to form purple and it also seemed to sparkle even in the gloom of rain. The hokage seemed to get back his bearings as he slowly stood up and spoke, "Why didn't you—"

"Finish you? Well for one, if I did, every available shinobi in Konoha would be hunting me down. Another thing would be that you and I need to discuss things. And three, why would I want my Oji-san dying anytime soon, eh?" replied the grinning blonde.

"Oji-san? Do I know you?" the hokage asked, confusion still visible on his face. He was even more confused as to why this person would be calling him "Oji-san" in a familiar way because he doesn't even know him. Oji-san was a term he was once referred to by a young, blonde boy with whisker marks on his face and a matching grin to go with his personality. How long has it been since he was called that? 5 years? Maybe 6? It has been too long.

A look of surprise filled the man's face. At first he was sad that the old man couldn't remember him but the sadness was then replaced by giggling and then by full-out laughter. Sarutobi now looked even more confused as he watched the man on the ground rolling with laughter. He was about to ask what was so hilarious when the man spoke, albeit having a hard time from the constant wheezing and giggles.

"Ah…hehehe…haha…I guess…hehehe…you wouldn't have recognized me after all this years and what I went through…hehe…completely understandable. I'll give you a clue," he leaned towards the old man's face ad whispered. "I died six years ago…" At first Sarutobi thought this man was crazy. A lot of shinobis died over the course of six years but thought about it anyway. He tried to remember anyone who had his physical features but could only think of one person except he was…and then it hit him. For the first time today, his heart began to lurch as though he was having a heart attack. He began to piece things together; blonde hair, face splitting grin…it had to be!

"Na…na..ru….to?"


	2. What happened to you?

**What its like to be on both sides**

**By: **

**Uzumaki-taichou**

Disclaimer: I don't any of the things that might be from Naruto, Bleach, or

Samurai7 or … I wish I owned them though 'cuz that'll be sick.

Author's notes: thanks for all the people who reviewed my story so far. Much

appreciated. And now, on with the show!

**Chapter 2**

**What happened to you?**

_Previously_

"_Ah…hehehe…haha…I guess…hehehe…you wouldn't have recognized me after all this years and what I went through…hehe…completely understandable. I'll give you a clue," he leaned towards the old man's face ad whispered. "I died six years ago…" At first Sarutobi thought this man was crazy. A lot of shinobis died over the course of six years but thought about it anyway. He tried to remember anyone who had his physical features but could only think of one person except he was…and then it hit him. For the first time today, his heart began to lurch as though he was having a heart attack. He began to piece things together; blonde hair, face splitting grin…it had to be!_

"_Na…na..ru….to?"_

"Na…ru…to? Is it really you?"

A face-splitting grin appeared on the man's face, glad that the Hokage finally seemed to recognize him albeit only barely.

"How?"

Naruto looked away for a moment as if trying to think of the best way to tell him what happened in the past six years in the shortest way possible.

"Let's just say that the damned fox, even in death, continued to be a hassle."

A few feet away, the onlookers of the fight couldn't believe what they just saw. This guy just single-handedly took on all of them plus their highest ranking shinobi and do it with ease or not even look remotely tired for that matter. In fact, he was grinning like nothing even happened. No one was more shocked than Kakashi though and left the genius of the war generation speechless; he was looking at his deceased at his sensei or at least someone that looked almost identical to him so he decided to investigate.

As the rest of the onlookers finally began to snap out of their comatose-states, Kakashi and the others quickly sped towards their injured Hokage. When they arrived, Kakashi lunged forward to the blonde shinobi. He grabbed his cloak and lifted Naruto up, trying to look as intimidating as he can albeit doing very poorly and spoke, "Who are you?"

Naruto, although amused by the fact that this guy not only had the gonads to question him, he also tried to look intimidating. But what really got his anger going was Kakashi holding him up by his cloak and act as though he was his superior resulting in him beginning to feel his anger flare up to unparalleled heights.

"I suggest you take your hands off me if you are fond of them, otherwise I'll take them off for you," replied a now pissed off blonde as chakra seemed to be coming off him in waves and gathering in his hands. Kakashi slowly looked down and froze. In Naruto's hands were a pair of blades that were crossed to imitate an open-mouthed scissor, ready to cut off his hands if he did not comply with his suggestion. Knowing what was at stake, he gently lowered down the blonde and slowly stepped away from him fearing the lose of his jutsus.

Naruto, for the most part felt a little wierded out from the scrutiny they were giving him. He noticed the looks on their faces; it ranged from confusion, to shock, and even suspicious. Naruto felt someone's eyes trying to bore through his head so he turned around and found Yuhhi Kurenai staring at him intently with a slight blush recognizable on her cheeks. He then had a wicked idea and quickly walked up to her and smiled a wicked smile, their faces merely a few centimeters apart.

Kurenai, for her part, was wondering who the hell this guy was? Naru? Toru? Naruko? She was also asking herself why the heck she was blushing for God's sake. She continued to ponder about these very ridiculous things until she felt a presence in front of her. Blonde hair, very unique eyes and a smile that forces you to melt and also grin back. She blushed from under the scrutiny and blushed even harder due to the close proximity and very inappropriate thoughts going through her head.

Naruto was loving every minute of this. He could tell from the way her blush kept getting deeper and the way she was staring at him meant she was definitely think very naughty or even dirty thoughts involving him and her. Accomplishing stage one of his three-part plan, he then put in to motion stage two. He leaned in a little closer to make it look like he was about to plant his lips to hers when he moved his head to her right ear and whispered, "Hey, I'm sorry about me doing those things to you earlier." He moved back a little to get a good look at her and was glad that her blushing hasn't stopped— she even blushed harder. He moved to her left ear and whispered, "Tell you what, how 'bout I take you out on a full-day date one of these days. Nod for a "yes" and shake for a "no." Kurenai slowly nodded her head while thinking what the hell is going on. "Great I'll see you when I see you I guess. I'm Naruto by the way, Kazama Naruto." He quickly nibbled softly at her earlobe in a very pleasurable way that left Kurenai groaning and moaning from the contact. He got up, leaving a very flustered looking Kurenai with a bit of saliva running down her lips and began walking towards the village gates.

"Hokage-sama, we have things to talk about. Let's go!"

It was a pretty sunny day today in Konoha. It hasn't rained or showed any signs or rain for the past two days Currently, Naruto was lying on his back, his head laying on a pillow and thinking about the meeting with Hokage a week before.

_Flashback_

"_So this Akatsuki is a group of 9 S-rank nins and their goal is to obtain the bijuus. So why is this Akatsuki Organization called after Tsunade?" asked Sarutobi. "She does not possess any of the Shodai or even sign of latent ability so why go after her?"_

"_They believe that the ability skips generations much like in any other clan and lies dormant inside of the blood relatives of the Shodai. Since she is the last surviving member of her clan, it would only make sense to go after her. Also, they are after what is around her neck— the Shodai's necklace."_

'_Why would they be after the necklace,' Sarutobi thought. He delved into the bowels of his mind and into the scrolls of the First. He remembered him writing something about the necklace; something about value and demon. _

_It then dawned on him._

"_Does it have to do anything with the containers," he asked. _

"_Hai, Hokage-sama. The necklace has the ability to supress and contain the powers of the Bijuu in tandem with the Mokuton or more specifically the Shodai's clan. Uchiha Itachi is a member of the nine as well as Orochimaru. They are two of the four who were assigned to retreave the medic but Orochimaru recently resigned from his position."_

_Sarutobi sighed, his old age finally catching up to him. He did not like this one bit. Akatsuki. Bijuu. Necklace. It all spelled trouble and the their lives did not need that type of trouble in a time such as now. Sarutobi decided to set this aside for now and ask the most important question he had wanted to ask._

"_Naruto…can you tell me how is it you are alive? We couldn't find you during the chaos and what we did find couldn't get any leads as to where you were."_

_Naruto turned his head towards the window seal and stared monotonously at the falling rain as his face took on a very solemn look._

"_I…don't know how I'm still alive actually. I don't even know why the fox did what he did nor do I want to understand. I was supposed to die. I was ready to die back then, just to get away from the glares and threats. To be honest I was glad the village did what it did because I was to do it myself. It hurts, you know, when I dream about those things and remember everything. I honestly don't know why I'm here telling you this; Akatsuki will come here and demolish place this place just to prove they can take anyone on. I guess I'm just doing it just to prove I'm not all that evil people make me out to be and probably the few people I respected are still here."_

_Naruto paused for a few minutes and looked into the eyes of the old man._

"_I was about to die that rainy day in the forest but the fox denied me that pleasure. He thought that by keeping me alive meant that I will suffer even more and I commend him for that. I just hate myself right now. I vowed never to return to this place but here I am sitting in front of you. He thought it funny also to make my body assimilate all of his power because through me, he will be remembered but I knew better. I knew that I was finally rubbing off on the old fox; I just wish that he didn't have to do what he did. Before he disappeared, he spoke in the most honest tone I ever heard come off of him and told me to watch out for myself as he was not with me anymore and beware the light the red moon shines upon you."_

_Naruto, tired of reminiscing of his past, stood from his seat and started for the door. He reached for the door handle and was about to step out when he heard the old man call to him. He turned his head and saw a vest flying towards him so his natural instincts kicked in and grabbed the incoming object._

"_Kazama Naruto. You are hereby instated as a Konoha Tokubetsou Jounin. There are many responsibilities coming with the rank and I trust you will fulfill them to the best of your ability. As to why you are being assigned as a Jounin, I need you as an unknown to other villages. The position will keep you on the mundane side of things and it will make you look like an ordinary rookie jounin thus keeping your cover and I assume that Akatsuki doesn't know your alive either." The old man grabbed a pair of keys from one of his drawers and threw it at Naruto. "I suggest to get settled in and get well adjusted here. Blend in with the village. Make friends and other things to keep them as question-free as possible and keep the name since very few people knows of the full name of the Yondaime. I expect that you're tired so I'll let you be to get some rest, God knows I need some."_

_Naruto laughed at this and exited the Hokage Tower, agreeing with the Hokage on the rest issue._

_End of Flashback_

Naruto was getting bored of lying around his apartment so he decided to take the old man's advice and get to know the people. By noon, he was well acquainted with everyone with in a 3-block radius. He felt that he became a bit full of himself when he constantly teased every female he met (excluding old women and litle girls), and as a result he found himself hiding and running away from a raging mob of women that was intent on raping his every being. So far, the only place he especially liked so far was the ramen stand a few minutes walk away from his apartment and was using it as a hiding spot. He was currently eating his second ramen bowl in the corner of the stand, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, when he felt a familiar chakra approach him.

"Kurenai-san, quick hide me! Cover me with genjutsu or something so they won't find me!"

Kurenai was confused by this and decided to ask him what happened.

"What are you talking about, Naru—"

"SSSHHH! Don't say my name out-loud! Fan-girls! Hundreds of them! They kept chasing me and I'm still wondering how they can keep up with me! They cornered me once behind the market and tried to tear my clothes off! They were actually trying to rape me! RAPE ME I tell you! I'm going now. DON"T. TELL. ANYONE. I WAS HERE. PLEASE."

Kurenai got a wicked idea and decided to get him back for the flirting session he did on her from before. As he was about halfway out of the stand, she suddenly yelled, "NARUTO-SAMA, THERE YOU ARE I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR YOU." A split second later, hordes of raging women came bounding up to him holding what looked like rope, tape and he was pretty sure KY Jelly. As he ran away from the mob intent on seducing him, he screamed out, "DAMN YOU KURENAI-SAN! I'LL GET YOU BACK FOR THIS TEN -FOLD! I SWEAR IT!"


	3. Past and Present

**What its like to be on both sides**

**By:**

**Uzumaki-taichou**

Disclaimer: I don't any of the things that might be from Naruto, Bleach, or Samurai7 … I wish I owned them though 'cuz that'll be sick.

Author's Note: Thanks to all who are reviewing my story. It really means a lot to me that you guys take time to read it and review.

**Chapter 3**

**Past and Present**

_A young boy lay motionlessly about half a mile deep into the caverns of the Hokage Monument. He lies there, his clothes wet from the rain and the pull of blood that surrounded him. He didn't know how he got there or managed to get there for that matter with all his wounds. His body couldn't move, numb from the pain and his eyes seemed to darken as with every passing moment he spent there lying on the ground._

_He could feel his consciousness slipping away and the feeling of cold wind being blown on him seemed to confirm his suspicions: he was going to die here in this dank, musty room inside the monument where no one would even think of looking. He was about ready to give up when unimaginable pain surged through his whole body, the pain originating from the seal on his stomach. 'Why must everyone torment him so, even when he was about fade away into the darkness' he asked himself. He wanted it to end; he wanted to die just to escape everything. Through the pain he could feel his wounds closing and healing at the rapid rate he had come to know. He could see a red aura surrounding his whole entire body. Before he passed out from the body-numbing pain, he heard a distant voice echo throughout the room._

"_Do not be afraid gaki…you will live to see the day this village burns itself down under its own accord for its sins…I will see to it that you will…I pass on to you what is mine. Forgive me if you have to endure more pain after what I must do but realize it must be done. Do not be surprised if you wake up and see everything in a different light; know that you are still yourself. I will leave you now with one advice: beware of the shine the Red Moon reflects upon you."_

Naruto woke up with a start, echoes of his voice bouncing around his apartment and his bed sheets soaked with his sweat. It happened again. For years now, the ever-haunting dream of him going under such pain in order to live kept repeating in his mind. The dream just wouldn't go away no matter how much he tried to ignore or forget it. He contemplated about the last thing the fox said over and over again for years. The premonition obviously involved him and this Akatsuki organization. But the question is how? The fox was dead. He had died or at least in the eyes of the public. For years he searched for answers, gathering information on the Akatsuki (Red Moon) Organization; their members, motives, and plans and yet every search came up empty-handed.

He looked outside and saw that dawn was just beginning its approach. Deciding that he wasn't going to get anymore sleep after the dream, he might as well eat and train. A haircut was also in the agenda as well as a visit to the tailoring shop. He quickly glanced at the calendar and a memory ran rampant in his mind. His eyes closed, realization and understanding began to show on his face; the meeting with the Hokage became even more urgent.

_Hokage Tower 12:00 noon_

Sarutobi was tired—tired and hungry as a matter of fact. He was currently reading through the day's reports and stamping approved missions when someone knocked on the door. He told whoever it was to come in and saw Naruto although a very different looking Naruto. His hair was no longer the sun-kissed blonde but was now blood red. His hair seemed to be cut since he could tell it was layered and had bangs now. He attributed the color of the hair as a trait passed on by the Kyuubi and in all honesty suited his attire. The vest he had given him was now black with the swirl on the back matching his hair color. A black, long-sleeve turtle neck made of silk lay underneath the vest while he wore baggy black pants with a kunai/shuriken pouch tied t his left thigh and also had the standard black shinobi sandals on. The outfit looked very well under his light, cream-colored skin and the hair contrasts with the darkness of his attire. On his back was his massive sword that was strapped on to a set of slots that were added onto the vest. He was also surprised to find a bento box flying towards his head at an alarming speed. With no other choice, he caught it and was thankful for the perfect timing and began to eat the food. Naruto watched the Hokage with an amused look and waited until the old man was done with his last bite before finally speaking.

"Hokage-sama, I request to be allowed to leave the village for at least 2 months in order to track and retrieve Tsunade-hime. I need to leave tomorrow morining in order to speak to my informant in Wave country as to her whereabouts. The last place I was told she visited was somewhere near Kumo and now heading towards Tanzaku City."

The Hokage looked him Naruto in the eyes to figure out why would he be needing that much time to retrieve Tsunade. He decided to leave it for now knowing asking would be futile.

"Ok, this will be labeled as an A-class mission. I will send Kakashi and Gai with you as—"

"Not necessary. I don't need anyone else for this mission because I'm picking up someone along the way. I need to pack so I'll be leaving you now."

"Wait! Since you are heading towards Wave country, escort this man there." He pointed to man just walking in and from what Naruto could smell, the man has been drinking. "The escort mission will be classifiedas a C-class mission." Naruto took one look at the man and scoffed.

"Why would he need shinobi to escort him back?"

"Because a lot of people want to stop me from finishing what I'm building brat," replied the old man by the door.

He rose from his seat and started for the door, not wanting to kill the man for calling him that since nobody has for a long time and headed home to pack.

The old man watched the retreating shinobi leave his room. He wondered how the hyper-active blonde he once knew turned into these very refined shinobi. Deciding that pondering on the issue would only be a waste of time, he began his very monotonous task of reading and stamping routine again all the while worrying for Naruto's sake.

"Is that the guy who'll be escorting me?" asked the drunk with a slight red tinge on his cheeks.

"Hai, Tazuna-san. Kazama Naruto will be the one; he says he has some business in your village so you might as well go with him," replied Sarutobi.

"He doesn't look like much to me. Are you sure he is good enough?"

"He is more than capable for the job. Knowing the look he was giving you earlier, he thinks this task is only a hindrance towards his other mission. Get some rest. You leave tomorrow morning and whatever you do, do not irate him like you did just now because if you do, not even I can stop him."

It was cold. The morning fog seemed to make things even more cold with all the moisture it carried as Naruto waited for the bridge builder to get here. He has been waiting now for over an hour when he heard someone walking towards the his direction. He looked up and saw old man Tazuna walking up to him carrying his things on his back. Naruto straightened up and began walking towards the gates, the bridge builder following from behind.

As they passed they passed the gates, Naruto stopped and noticed a puddle of water in the middle of the road.

'Strange, it hasn't rained for nearly half a month now, so why would a puddle be here?'

He began his trudge again, putting the little anomaly in the back of his mind all the while keeping on guard in case anything might come up. Tazuna meanwhile was wondering what made his escort suddenly stop and focus on the puddle. As he followed Naruto from behind, he suddenly caught a glimpse of something flying through the air from his right flank and then it happened so fast. Tazuna couldn't believe what just happened; he watched as chains with what looked like blades welded to it, wrap around Naruto and a split second later, a rain of blood showered the grounds as the chains decapitated his escort. He watched as the chains retracted in a wild manner towards his direction. Out of impulse, he moved out its way and turned around and saw to people swinging the blades around like it was a toy.

Disappearing into thin air, the two assailants moved in for the kill as they watched amusedly the man ahead of them running for his life.

Tazuna kept on running, fearing for his life and the need for self-preservation imminent on his face, until he tripped on a wayward rock conveniently placed in his path. He watched in horror as the two figures he was running away from were heading straight for him with their chains swinging dangerously around them. He closed his eyes and braced himself from the certainty of death when he heard the most horrific, pain-stricken howls he has ever heard. When he finally opened his eyes, he ended up wanting to shut it again because he felt like he was going to throw up as he watched the two figures wailing out their hearts out on the ground from the pain that they felt. Tazuna saw a pair of legs that were cleanly cut from the knees up a few feet away from the two and assumed that that was the reason they wailing about.

He watched in surprise and shock as a Naruto with all his limbs attached to his body walked up to the remaining whimpering fool; the other one dead from blood loss and shock. Tazuna looked away as Naruto brought his sword down on the man's throat, perfectly silencing him as well as severing his head from the rest of his body.

Tazuna pushed himself up as he walked up to his savior to try and explain why these nins were here and what just happened. When Naruto began moving again.

"I don't want to hear it Tazuna-san. Clearly someone is after you and you don't have enough money for any missions higher than a C-lass. Completely understandable. I'm officially upgrading this to an A-Class mission. Don't worry about the money; I'll find some other way to get the payment. For now, we need to move."

Tazuna watched the retreating Naruto and couldn't help but feel ashamed of himself for deceiving these people as well as feel thankful for continuing the mission. With renewed vigor, he began his walk towards his home in a faster pace, determined to get there as quickly as possible.

"Tazuna-san, how far are we from your home?"

"About a quarter mile once we reach the dock at the other side of this river but the mist might cause some problems."

Naruto and Tazuna were currently on a boat heading across the Wave country river border. Naruto could vaguely see a silhouette of a huge structure through the mist.

"Is that the bridge you are building, Tazuna-san?" Tazuna looked at the thing Naruto was looking at and nodded.

"Hai Kazama-san, that is the bridge. The bridge is going to be the symbol that will remind my people to stand up for ourselves. Its going to free all of us from everything holding us down. It'll free us from Gatou."

"The man who is after you?"

"Hai, he has for sometime now ever since he found out about the bridge. He controls everything that happens in Wave Country and that's why we live in poverty. He just came here one day and took over us…"

Naruto listened intently to the old man's story. He felt pity towards the people of his home but knew that they didn't need it or want it for that matter. From that moment on, he decided to finish this aission to the end and see to it personally that this Country recovers from its sorry state.

"…and once the bridge is finished, I will finally be able to give my daughter and her son what they deserve."

"Your daughter?"

"Hai. Tsunami is her name and is about your age, 27 years old I think. She lives with me and her son. She should be at the docks when we arrive to meet us. "

"No husband?"

"No. The bastard walked out on her as soon as she told him he was pregnant. I have never seen her truly smile after that incident. She needs someone in her life to make her happy and not just her family. I wan to find her someone for that. Someone who will truly love her and make her feel happy."

As they approached the docks, Tazuna could see a silouhutte of blue hair through the mist and a face of angel and immediately recognized as his daughter.

Naruto was captivated, awestruck even. For the first time in his life, he never felt his body go out of sync with his mind as he continued to stare at the woman who looked like a goddess sent from above. With her blue hair, angelic face, and the most gorgeous body he has ever seen. The clothes didn't help either; a form fitting blouse and a skirt cut just above her knees. Her legs probably caught his attention the most. She just literally took his breath away as he just continued to stare. This didn't go unnoticed by Tazuna as he caught Naruto staring at his daughter with pure admiration and fascination in his eyes and continued to do so as they continued to get closer. He contemplated whether Naruto would be a good choice for her daughter; he was strong and could definitely defend her from anyone. Yes he would be a good pick based on what he has seen from him and the only thing he would have to see is if Naruto will act on his daughter. 'Maybe I could do something about that?" he Tazuna thought. With that he began to formulate plans on how to get these two together and to finally see his daughter smile a true smile again.

Tsunami was waiting patiently at the docks for nearly and hour now waiting for her father. In his letter, he said to be at the docks an hour ago and there still wasn't any signs of him. 'Something must have happened," she thought. She was also carrying two grocery bags in her arms and the waiting wasn't helping the straining in her arms. She was about to walk back to the house when she saw a light shining through the thickness of the mist. As the light got gradually closer, she could make out a boat with two people on board, one at the front and one at the back. Little by little, she recognized who was at the front as none other than her father but what intrigued her the most was the person in back of him.

To her, the person was the most handsome man she has ever seen. From his red, flowing hair to his handsome face, she definitely concluded


End file.

Naruto, Adventure, Romance